Sleep Over
by Vausq
Summary: Nick and Judy love each other, but how well can they put up with each other? When Nick's apartment is flooded, he is forced to find a new place to live. Judy is the first animal to come to mind. Are they ready to move in together, or is this all a step in the wrong direction?
1. Chapter 1

It was a cold, dark and wet night. Nick scurried out of his car and into his apartment building, hiding from the torrential rain that crashed down onto Zootopia.

The day had a very sad feeling to it. A long and slow day of running errands with a storm waiting for him once he got home. Sometimes Nick felt like there was an animal who spent their whole life trying to ruin his day. If that was the case, then it had succeeded.

Nick hid in the building and sighed as he leaned against the old wood door. He was home, but his relief was short lived as he quickly realised that his hopes of running from the storm were far from over. His apartment building had been flooded. There was water in every direction, a good few inches at that too. Nick lifted his left paw out of the cold, dirty gunk in an attempt to keep dry. Nick sighed and set his paw back down with a 'plop' of disappointment. "Great! Just great!" He announced to himself sarcastically. "Now I'm a hobo." He trudged down the hall, through the couple inches of water that had leaked into the building, in an attempt to get to his apartment. He was halfway down the hall before the lights began flickering and eventually dying out. He was wet, sad, in the dark and homeless.

"Come on!" Nick yelled out in pure anger. "Why me?" He asked aimlessly before continuing his march towards his flooded dump of a place. Thankfully, the dark did not prove to be much of a problem because of his night vision, but lights definitely would have been better. Once he reached his door, Nick unlocked it and entered his home.

His apartment was a disaster, water covering every room. After some quick thinking, Nick realized that he needed to grab his necessities and leave. Just seeing his safe haven in such a condition made him nauseous. He picked out two duffel bags from his closet and loaded them with whatever clothes, toiletries, and valuables had not been soaked. He packed them with literally everything and anything that could be saved from the water and headed out. The day couldn't possibly get any worse.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Judy Hopps had just sat down for a long marathon of her favourite TV show after a long day of staying home and cleaning. She had offered to watch it with Nick, but he was busy and had little interest in what Judy considered to be entertaining. So she decided to watch it alone. She had a bowl of popcorn, a big glass of carrot juice and the TV remote in hand. She was ready for a long night of binge watching.

But before her marathon began, she heard a knock at her door. Seconds later, a familiar voice was heard from the other side of the door. "Judy? You there?" Nick called out from the hall. "I'm homeless, I'm cold and I'm sad. Let me in." He continued with a tired voice.

Judy hurried over to the door and swiftly opened it, wondering what Nick could possibly be rambling on about. Nick stood in the doorway with a droopy frown and was soaked from the extreme amount of rain out. "What in the world are you talking about?" She asked in confusion. "You're homeless?"

Nick walked in and dropped two drenched duffel bags down in front of Judy. "That's all I was able to save from the flood." He said disappointingly, as if he thought he could have gotten more.

"The flood? Your apartment is flooded?"

"Yep" Nick confirmed. "I called Castor, you know him right?" Judy nodded with approval

"Yeah," she agreed "the landlord."

"Yeah. He said that we probably won't be allowed back into the building for another week or so. So until then, I have nowhere to live."

"You'll find a place to stay," Judy said trying to comfort Nick. "But until then, you need a shower because you look and smell like a bum."

"I agree." Nick said as he started towards the bathroom, excited to warm himself up. Once Nick entered the bathroom and locked the door behind him, Judy fell down on the couch, hundreds of questions running around in her head. 'Where was Nick going to stay? Could he stay with her? Would he want to stay with her? Would it be weird?' The idea of Nick sleeping over for a week or so seemed great, but a bit strange. They already spent all their free time together, how could this be much different?

Judy laid on the couch, continuing to think about all the things that could change between her and Nick. She could show him how to make better meals, because all he ate was mac n cheese and takeout. She could teach him how to keep his place organised, because his apartment was a mess (despite the flood, of course). Judy had a full week to make Nick a better animal, now she saw this opportunity as another job.

Judy sat up and pushed the thought aside. She was overthinking the whole situation. This wasn't a slumber party, life went on anyway. Work continued no matter what, and he would just be staying here because he had to. If he wanted to.

In an attempt to forget about Nick, she started her marathon. She didn't get far into the first episode before Nick finished his shower and interrupted her show.

"You're watching that?" He asked Judy disgustedly as he walked out of the bathroom. Judy turned around to face Nick and defend herself, but froze in awe. Nick had strolled out of the bathroom still dripping wet with only a small bunny sized towel around his waist.

"Really Nick?" She asked disappointedly as she held her up paw to cover her face."Put some clothes on, Jeesh!"

"That's what i'm doing," Nick said as he went to pick up his duffel bags for clean clothes. "and come on, It's nothing you haven't seen before." He continued tauntingly.

"Nick stop! You're being nasty!" Judy demanded, still holding her paw up between them.

"Fine negative Nancy." Nick mocked as he turned around and disappeared back into the bathroom with his bags.

Judy brought her arm down and started to relax. If Nick did live with her for the next while, it might end up being a long and strange week. Judy turned back towards her TV and continued her episode, once again trying to ignore Nick.

Once Nick had dried himself off and put some clothes on, he went out the living room to sit down next to Judy. "So, what happened?" Judy asked Nick as he hopped over the back of the couch and landed beside her.

"Well, my apartment building is really old. Castor says that the rain found a way around the walls and now, the building isn't 'fit for animal habitation'." Nick gestured the last part by making quotations with his fingers. "Everyone in the building needs to find a new place to live until they suck the water out and fix up the architecture."

Judy then asked the million dollar question. "So what's your plan? Where are you going to stay?"

Nick took a deep breath before starting, as if he knew this moment was going to come. "I thought about staying at a hotel or something, but the ones in town are too expensive and the ones out of town are too far from the station. So I was hoping that I could stay with you... Maybe?" Nick asked with uncertainty. He didn't want to make things weird between him and Judy, but he had no choice.

"You haven't even been here a half hour and things have already gotten weird. Imagine what a week could do."

"I know, but I don't have any other options." Nick said desperately. "Pleeeaaase? Pretty pleeaaase, with a cherry on top?"

Judy rolled her eye, finally agreeing with Nick "Fine, but there are rules."

"Ok, are they?" Nick asked, now excited to know what he was getting himself into.

Judy paused. " I haven't thought that far yet." She admitted. "We'll go over that in the morning. But for now, I'm marathoning." She said as she turned back to the TV and starting to pay attention to her show again.

"Still watching it?" Nick asked jokingly  
Judy cut off his sarcasm and started her rule book. "Ok, rule number one, never question my taste in anything."

For the rest of the night, Judy put up with Nick as he nitpicked at every flaw in the show. It was going to be a long week.


	2. Chapter 2

"Nick! Get up sleepy head. Almost time to leave." Judy exclaimed as she speed walked over to the couch and shook Nick awake. "We need to be on our way in fifteen minutes."

Nick pulled himself up and rubbed his eyes, still half asleep. "What time is it?" Nick asked before letting out a huge yawn.

"It's six thirty." Judy answered as she tossed Nick his bags. "Hurry up, we're gonna be late."

"Six thirty? What's wrong with you? I need my beauty sleep." Nick moaned before falling back down onto the couch.

She knew this was going to happen. Judy lived farther from the station than Nick and had to wake up earlier to go to the gym most mornings. This meant that she needed to go to bed early and wake up early, two things that Nick was naturally bad at.

"Why can't I take my car later?" Nick asked half heartedly, still napping on the couch as Judy rushed around to get ready.

Judy sighed and dropped her face in her paws. They had already gone over this the night before. "Because you need to go get your own food while I'm at the gym, and you need to get used to early hours."

Eventually, Nick pulled himself up and slowly got ready. He wasn't heading to the office right away, so he packed his uniform and some nice clothes in his bag before putting on sweatpants with a cheap polo shirt. After brushing his teeth, fixing his fur and packing his bag, he waited at the front door for Judy.

Nick didn't need to wait for long though, because only seconds after, Judy came up behind him. She had a bag over each shoulder and a thermos of coffee in each paw. Nick saw her approaching and opened the door for her.

"Aren't you a gentleman." Judy chimed as she passed Nick on her way out. Nick quickly snatched her apartment keys from her jacket pocket and locked the door behind them.

"It's what I do Whiskers." Nick said as he followed Judy down and out the building.

"Here you go." Judy said as she passed Nick a thermos once they had sat down in her car. "And yes, I made it just the way you like."

"You never fail to impress me!" Nick complimented triumphantly as he took the bottle from Judy and started to drink.

As Nick drove towards the gym, Judy started explaining what he couldn't buy. "No frozen foods, they'll melt by the end of the day. No fatty foods either, I'm putting you on a diet. No fry-"

"Whoaw, whoaw, whoaw! Slow down, CrazyLady! No fatty foods?" Nick asked in confusion. What was Judy thinking? No good food?

"Nope. If you're living with me, you need to eat what I make. I'm going to put you back into shape. No take out, no fried anything and no soda." This was something Judy needed to enforce. She knew that a healthier diet lead to a healthier life.

"This is not what I signed up for. I didn't ask to go to rehab, I just need a place to stay." Nick countered. He really did not want to go on a diet.

"And for as long as you stay here, you need to follow my rules. And my rules say we're both going on a diet."

Nick sighed aloud to show his disagreement with the change. "Fine, do have a grocery list? Because now I have no idea what to buy, and where do you want me to go? The stores don't open for another hour."

Judy smiled and handed him a slip of paper. "That's all you need to buy, nothing else. There's an address on the bottom of the paper, they have everything there and they're open all the time. Oh, this is my stop." She said, pointing out the window at the gym.

"This place is open?" Nick asked as he turned into the parking lot. There wasn't a single car in sight. "It looks deserted."

"It's open 24/7." She answered. "I'll be done in 45 minutes, pick me up then." Judy quickly grabbed her gym bag left the car.

As she entered the gym, she heard nothing but the faint hum of the lights. No one was in the building but her. Most animals would find this eery and uncomfortable, but Judy liked the silence.

Once she put her gym clothes on and locked her bag in a locker, Judy got to work. She worked out not only to stay fit, but also to get her mind off things, which is why this morning was such a rare occasion. Because all she did was think.

At first, Judy saw this as a chance to turn Nick into a fit, responsible fox, but now she was worrying that she came across as bossy. Judy knew foxes were naturally easy going and chill animals, and she understood that it might not be something she could ever change, but picking up and cleaning were traits that Nick really needed. The other problem is that they were two completely different species, polar opposites. They were built to hate each other. Judy knew that it didn't matter, she and Nick were the best of friends, but she was worried that this stay might bring out something in him that she had never seen before. Something she didn't want to see.

After a half hour of worrying and weightlifting, Judy's workout came to a close. She showered, changed into her uniform and exited the gym with her bag. She was surprised to find Nick in the parking lot on time.

"What are 'low cal kale bites'?" Nick asked as she opened the door and sat down beside him. She saw Nick inspecting the bag of chips, questioning what they could be. "Isn't kale a kind of seaweed?" He turned to Judy for an answer.

"No silly." She said as she laughed. "It's a vegetable. Being on a diet is already teaching you things and you haven't even eaten yet."

"Pff.. Learning should stay in school, Judy." Nick said as he threw the bag in the back seat and put the car into drive.

It was noon. Nick had just got up from a long few hours of work and was now headed towards the break room. He grabbed his leftover burger from the fridge and sat down at a table.

Nick wasn't far into his meal when Alex, one of Nick's friends sat down in front of him. The tundra wolf leaned back and kicked his feet up onto the table, balancing himself on the two back legs of the chair.

"Sooo, what happened? I can feel something big going down." Alex said with interest.

Alex didn't like to start gossip, but he loved being in the loop. If anything remotely interesting was happening in another animal's life, he always tried to jump in. He also seemed to have a power of knowing when something like this was happening. It was like his sixth sense.

"Nothing." Nick denied, trying to hid the truth. Alex chuckled, knowing that Nick was lying.

"That was a nice try. Now come on, what's up?" Alex asked again.

Nick put his food down and sighed, falling back into his chair. "My apartment flooded and now im staying at Judy's place."

Alex looked at Nick carefully, trying to fill in what Nick left out. "It's not working out, is it?" He finally guessed. Nick stared at him in discomfort, his face agreed for him.

"Yeah, I tried living with my girlfriend a while ago too." Alex continued. "It didnt work out though. We're still dating, but the change was pretty uncomfortable. Do think it'll work out with you and Judy?" He asked.

"I don't know, Judy wants to use this time to change me. Better diet, better sleep, better habits, that sort of thing. But it's just not me, you know?"

"For sure, different species all act differently. Maybe she just doesn't completely get that. You two are more than just different though, most interspecies relationships are two predators or two preys. A relationship like your's is something new because you two are made to kill and run from each other. If you ask me, you're lucky it's worked out this far, don't know how moving in together will be." An unsettling silence fell over the break room, as Alex slowly realized that he was being a bit inconsiderate.

"Yeah, thanks for that." Nick said quietly.

Alex got Nick's memo and realized he was going to far. "Well I'm being kinda nosy, so I'll let you do your thing." He got up from the table and gave Nick some space. "If you need advice on this sorta thing, I'm your man."

"Ok." Nick answered quietly. "I'll keep that in mind."

Alex turned and left the break room, leaving Nick all alone to think about all the possible mistakes he had already made. Maybe he should start a diet, just for Judy. He knew he still needed burgers because meat is important, being a predator and all. But otherwise, a diet could only help, right? He'd start with that, and it would be easy to stay on track with Judy around all the time.

Once Nick finished his food and put his dishes in the sink, he headed back over to his desk to finish his work. As he worked, Nick continued to think about his stay at Judy's and all the things it could screw up.

Nick didn't like planning too far into the future, but he couldn't help but think about how badly this might play out years from now. If this move ended up being a mistake, Judy might not want to move in with him permanently. It might stop her from considering him as a mate. Even though the idea was so far away, he couldn't stop worrying about it.

After some unnecessary panicking, Nick came to a realization. It didn't matter, he had to stay with Judy either way, so he might as well stop worrying about it.

"You look stressed out of your mind." Judy said, now standing in front of Nick. He hadn't noticed her because of all the thoughts running through his head. When he heard her, Nick jumped. "What wrong?" She asked

"Nothing, just... thinking." Nick lied, shrugging off the sad thoughts.

"Ok, I won't ask anything else." She said as she turned and left for the exit. "Hurry up, I want to get home." She called out to Nick. Nick quickly grabbed his bag and ran up beside Judy.

"I've got a special meal planned for us tonight. Its home made and it's healthy, so I know you're going to like it." Judy said excitedly.

"Oooh, sounds romantic." Nick said as he grabbed Judy's waist and pulled her closer. "I can't wait."


	3. Chapter 3

Several days had passed since Nick's move, and all hope was slowly being drained away. Over the past few days, Nick's bad habits had begun to spread to Judy. For the first couple days, she hadn't noticed anything because of how minor the changes were. It was only her small chores like washing the dishes, doing her laundry or picking up after herself that were delayed.

But as time went on, her lifestyle continued to slow. She started sleeping in, craving greasy foods and watching more TV. Fortunately, they had more or less been able to stay on their diet. Unfortunately, that was now the least of their worries.

"Nick! I need to pay rent! Where's your share?" Judy called out as she scrambled around her apartment to find more cash.

"I already told you! I'll have it tomorrow." He shouted from the couch, waiting eagerly for his show to come on.

"And I already told you that I need it today! We've been over this, I need your pay from last week!"

Nick said nothing, causing an uncomfortable silence to fall over the room. "Uuuhh… About that. I may ha-"

"You spent it didn't you?" Judy stopped in front of Nick and crossed her arms, disappointment fell over her. Nick raised his empty hands, agreeing with Judy.

"I cannot believe you."

"But I lost my laptop in the flood and I needed a new one. I can't work without it." Nick said in his defense. "Can't make money if I can't work."

"Fine I'll pay. But I'm expecting my money back." As Judy started walking away, she stepped in something wet and gummy, god only knows what it was. "Arch! And pick up after yourself, my place is a dump because of you."

Nick sat up a bit straighter and looked around. He was surrounded by trash. Dirty dishes, garbage, cans and bottles, everything. "It's not that bad." He denied hesitantly. "It just needs a little clean up."

"Then give it a clean up. I'm going out to get some snacks, because you ate all of them, and to pay the rent. When I get back, I want this place spotless, or else I'll… I'll kick you out." She threatened half heartedly. Judy was pretty serious though, Nick needed to carry his weight, but was she going to enforce it?

"Pff, suure. You love me to much to kick me out." Nick said jokingly.

"Don't test me." She warned.

He decided to test her.

Hours later, she entered her apartment, groceries in each paw, just to find Nick still sitting in his own filth. The apartment hadn't gotten much worse since she left, but it definitely hadn't gotten any better. Judy didn't know whether to feel annoyed, angry or just too tired to care about any of it.

Judy walked over to Nick and jumped onto his chest, startling him awake.

"How do you manage to clean your apartment when I go to your place? But when you live here, you're a slob?" Judy asked

Nick lightly pushed Judy off of him and straightened his back. "I know I'm a slob, but I've been thru alot in the past few days. The flood, the change in lifestyle, losing all my stuff, I just need time to get used to it."

"I get that, but it's been almost a week. I thought you would have learned how to pick up after yourself by now."

Nick got up and sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Ok, I'll clean the place a bit." He said as he started picking up his dishes.

Once judy had put the food away, she helped Nick fix up the apartment. Within the next few minutes, the place was clean of garbage, dirty clothes and old dishes.

"See? Was that too difficult?" She asked as the two animals instinctively fell down onto the couch and reached for the remote. Judy caught herself and paused mid reach, stuck in a train of thought. Nick snatched up the remote before noticing that Judy was troubled.

"What's up Cottontail?" He asked. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

Judy slowly leaned back onto the couch in silence, thinking about the changes that were happening. She was getting lazy. "Let's not watch TV tonight." She said as she turned to Nick.

"Hahaha, very funny. So, what do you wanna watch?" Nick chuckled, not realizing that Judy wasn't kidding.

"Im serious Nick. Let go out and do something."

Nick smile faded as he slowly turned towards Judy. "Oh god, you are serious…"

"Yeah!" She confirmed " All we do is waste our time in here. Let's get out and see stuff."

"But the barking dead is on." Nick whinned. "Pleeease?"

"No." Judy said as she leaned over towards Nick and snatched the remote from his paw. After quickly pushing a few buttons, Judy turned off the TV and stood up. "There, it's recording. Well watch it when we get back."

Nick sighed and slowly dragged himself up. "Why do you care about my health all of a sudden? You're worse than my mom."

The thought of Judy taking care of Nick made her smile. "If we're living together, you need to follow my lifestyle and not drag me into yours." She said as she got up and threw on a cheap hoodie.

"My lifestyle isn't that bad." Nick denied as he started looking thru his bags for something warmer to wear. "Its relaxing, and simple, and-"

"And unhealthy," Judy rudely interrupted. "And boring, and not very productive."

"Woaw, whats with all the hostility?" Nick asked, raising his hands in defense. "Dont jump the gun, it's only been a few days!"

Judy chuckled, now realizing she was getting way ahead of herself. "Yeah, sorry. Just… worrying for nothing."

Nick quickly realized Judy's stress and got up from the couch to go comfort her. He strolled up to Judy and pulled her into a hug. It was unexpected, but Judy liked it.

"If living together is stressful, you need to tell me. Ok?" He whispered softly into her ears. Judy's face lite up bright red against Nick's chest. She loved it when Nick took time away from being whity to be serious with her.

"Ok." She responded quietly. "I can do that."

Nick stayed silent for a few seconds, letting the the words sink in. "Good. Now where are we going?" He asked as he reached down, grabbed Judy's hand and lead her out the door.


	4. Chapter 4

Judy had never felt so relaxed in her whole life. Once she realized Nick's bad habit of staying inside all day, they decided to plan a few hours away from the city. The two of them spent their whole day exploring and visiting the countryside outskirts of Sahara Square. They picked a great day to go too, because there wasn't a cloud to block the boiling weather. They discovered new beaches, tried new water sports, and ate more ice cream than they should have (despite their diet).

As their small vacation came to a close, Nick parked his beloved convertible at a hidden beach they had earlier discovered. The sun set over the sea directly in front of them, making their entire world light up orange. As the sun fell underwater and the sky slowly faded black, they chatted about all the new things they did.

Once the stars came out, they learned their seats back, opened the roof and stared up at the glimmering lights. There were so many stars, the sky was almost completely white. Ever since Judy had moved into the city from her home, she rarely ever saw stars out anymore, so taking the time to come out here with Nick meant a lot to her. They laid there in silence, enjoying each others company and staring up at the countless stars. Judy couldn't have been more comfortable.

Nick, on the other hand was not as easy going. Sure, the day was fun and relaxing, but hanging out with Judy really made him think about her, about them. Nick rarely ever worried, he usually just fixed things as time called for it. But every once in awhile, his mind would get unnecessarily anxious. This distracted him from work, time and even money. The only thing he could do was think about that one thing, and now, that one thing was Judy.

"You've been different the past few days." Judy said, breaking Nick from his train of thought. "What's on your mind?"

"Uhh... Nothing important." He immediately spat out, trying to act focused on the sky.

Judy turned on her side, now looking directly at Nick. She could see right through him.

"It's obvious that something has been on your mind and I really want to know what's what it is. Can I help?" Judy asked concerned.

"Its nothing." Nick lied again, trying to play the whole thing off. "Seriously, I'm fine."

"Please stop lying, Nick. I know you, and you've never acted this worried before. Just tell me what's wrong." She paused, waiting for Nick to answer, but he said nothing.

Judy laid on her back again, now looking up to the sky. "It's about the move isn't it?" She asked again expecting Nick to answer, but like before, he stayed silent.

"Is it me?" She asked with a worried tone. That would explain why Nick wouldn't want to tell her. "Am I too difficult to live with?"

"What? No, it's not you at all." Nick quickly said reassuringly. "Times are just tough right now."

Nick really didn't want to go down this road, where he confessed his feeling and made himself look like a cry baby. But he knew he had to if he wanted to make Judy feel better, and it might even make him feel better.

Nick sighed, thinking about what to say. "I don't think me moving in was a good idea." He said slowly, trying not to hurt Judy's feelings. "I just don't think we share the right lives." Judy laid in silence, listening as Nick continued.

"I'm lazy and you're outgoing, I'm sloppy and you're tidy. We were made to hate each others, it's in our blood. That's not something we can change, that's what worries me."

After letting the words sink in, Judy finally spoke up. "I've known that from the start," She admitted. "I was just hoping it was something that could be changed. When you moved in, I saw it as an opportunity to make you more like me. But now I know that's not normal."

Nick chuckled jokingly. "Ha, yeah. A fox trying to be a bunny, that's not something most animals would call normal."

They talked and joked about how strange and different they were when compared to the social standard, which helped, but Nick still had something on his mind.

"But that's not the only thing that's on my mind." He admitted. He paused, trying to put his words together. Nick sighed heavily before continuing, this was so stressful. "I'm worried about us." He finally said. "Most of my life has been total crap. You're the best thing that's happened to me in the past decade. If things got awkward between us, I don't know what I'd do."

Total surprise filled Judy. 'The best thing in the past decade?' She thought, was she really that important to him?

"Really?" She asked with a quiet voice, now feeling tears behind her eyes. "The best thing in the past decade?"

"Of course," he said with a genuine smile. "But that's just because I never really had much to start with." Nick quickly added once he realized how emotional he was getting.

Judy softly laughed at Nick as she wiped the small tears from her eyes. "We're not going to lose each other," She said in between sniffles. "We aren't going to stop being friends just because it's a bit difficult to live with each other. I know animals who have worked through worse."

"I know," Nick agreed "But they're all the same species. They don't have the same problems that we do."

The unfortunate reality soon came back to Judy. It was something she and Nick had lived with for the past few months. They had gotten used to the strange looks and the turning heads. They learned to accept it and move on, but that didn't mean it was easy to live with it.

To make matters worse, once Nick had moved in, a boat load of new problems came up. Their different habits and tendencies started to clash. With every passing day, it became harder to get used to their new lives. Harder to get used to each other.

"But we can still try." Judy said halfheartedly. "There are a lot of solid interspecies relationships. We just need to be more like them. I know it'll be tough, but we need to try, right?"

It was just then when Nick's worry instantly drained away. It was like a burden that had been on him for a week was suddenly lifted. He realized that Judy was right, all they needed to do was try. Of course being with an animal other than a fox would be hard, but it was worth it. Especially if it was with Judy. After all, Judy is a bunny cop, if that doesn't prove determination, Nick wouldn't know what did.

"Right," Nick calmly agreed. "We'll get through it just fine."

He tightened his grip around Judy's paw and fell back deeper into his seat, finally able to admire the stars.


	5. Chapter 5

"Sooo... What's new?" Alex asked as he quietly snuck up behind Nick, who was sitting at his desk. The tundra wolf peeked his large snout over Nick's shoulder, glancing down at his colleagues paperwork.

"How's the move been?" Alex asked, referring to Nick's stay with Judy.

"Why do you even care?" Nick blew back in annoyance as Alex stood up straighter and leaned up against the wall. "It's not like it's important."

"Not important? Seriously? You two are the gossip of the station. Everyone obsess over you guys."

Nick glanced up at Alex with confused face. "What? You're crazy, why would anyone pay attention to us? Were just like any other couple."

"Quite the opposite actually. Imagine this," Alex raised his paws and brought them down in front of him like a rainbow for dramatic effect.

"Two animals, fox and rabbit, predator and prey must overcome the social and emotional struggles of being in an interspecies relationship."

"That doesn't sound that exciti-"

"Follow them as they fight crime, and save the city together." Alex interrupted. "Where the biggest danger is society."

Nick sighed and rubbed his forehead from the headache Alex was giving him. "You're over dramatizing it," He complained.

"Episode one." Alex whispered dramatically. "Sleep Over."

"I cannot believe you."

"He's not wrong." A familiar voice said from behind the two animals. "If there was a reality show about you two, everyone here would be watching it."

Nick let out a loud moan of distress as he dropped his head onto his work. "Not you too Geno, you're supposed to keep every one here sane."

The second wolf rounded the corner and sat down in the chair across from Nick. "And I do a pretty good job at that." He admitted. "But I like to have fun too."

"I think I'm gonna take the rest of the day off." Nick said as he started putting his papers into his bag. "You two are breaking my brain."

"Ey, calm down. We're just teasing." Geno reassured.

"Yeah... Ok," Alex disagreed sarcastically "But seriously how's the move? I actually want to know."

"It's done."

"What? Done?" Geno asked in confusion. "What do you mean done?"

"I mean I can move back into my apartment tomorrow." Nick answered as though it was obvious. "Tonight is my last night."

Geno opened his mouth to speak, but still took some time putting his words together. "You know I don't like to assume things, but I thought you were moving in, like, permanently. Everyone thinks it's going to be permanent."

"Nope, that was never the plan." For a few seconds, Nick was only confused. But once the situation started to sink in, Nick's eyes widened with realization. Rumors were spreading.

"Everyone thinks I'm moving in with Judy?" Nick asked nervously. "Forever?"

"Yeah," The two wolves answered together. "That is what's happening, right?"

Nick dropped his face into his paws with a stressful sigh. He knew from the start that living with Judy was going to take it's toll, but now it was messing with his social life? With his job?

"I need to get out of here. Before people start calling me out on it." He said, convinced that being in public was the worst thing imaginable for him.

"Tell chief I'm taking the rest of the day off." He called back to his friends as he got up and left for the exit with his bag.

On his way out, he ran into Clawhauser, the station's dispatch officer. "Heeyyy, Niiick." Clawhauser greeted flamboyantly. "I heard you and Judy are-"

"I called it!" Nick exclaimed as he waved Clawhauser into silence once he passed by him. "I don't want to hear it."

He quickly rushed out of the building, hoping no other animals would try to greet him in an attempt to squeeze questions out of him. Fortunately, he was able to make it to his car without bumping into anyone who was interested in his love life.

Judy didn't always complain, but once she got back from her most stressful day at work yet, she wanted Nick to know how she felt. She nagged on forever, furious about the gossip that had been passed around the office.

"They think I'm pregnant, and they think were engaged, and they think we're desperate for attention, what is that supposed to mean? How did they get that from a flooded apartment?"

Nick tried to put up with it, but Judy just wouldn't stop. So he made her promise that he would take them out to a nice place to eat to celebrate their last night together. If she stopped whining.

Nick had to admit, the restaurant he chose was pretty nice. Better than he was expecting. In fact, he thought that they had under dressed for the occasion. Around them sat animals with tuxedos and glamorous dresses, whilst they both wore casual dress shirts and jeans.

The two of them sat together at the center of a large, cathedral styled building. Above them was a massive glass domed sky roof made to let light in. But it was night out, so the entire room was lit almost only with the faint glow of candles and fireplaces.

"Thanks again for paying." Judy managed in between bites as she gulped down more of her salad.

Nick sat across from her, watching her down her food, slowly growing jealous that his hadn't arrived yet.

"Well, we do need to celebrate. Almost a month living together without driving our relationship into the ground." He said raising his champagne glass triumphantly. "I'm proud of us."

"There were bumps in the road." She agreed, raising her glass along with Nick. "But we both made it out alive. Too us."

"Too us." Nick agreed as they clinked their glasses together.

Not long after, Nick's food arrived. He ordered a steak, of sorts. It wasn't animal, but it wasn't entirely bugs either. Some new test that the food industry was trying out for the public. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was amazing.

Judy finished her plate first and set it aside. Back at her apartment, She did tell Nick she would quit talking about what her friends had told her, but she just kept thinking it. The two of them being engaged? Her being pregnant? What a bunch of absurd ideas. But that didn't stop her from thinking.

"Nick?" She asked quietly. "If I was pregnant, would our kids be boxes, or funnies?"

Upon hearing the word pregnant, Nick froze. Every muscle in his body tensed as though he was being watch. He slowly gulped down the bit of food that was left before taking a breath and finally answering.

"Are you pregnant?" He asked shyly.

"No! Of course not. I just want to know what you think."

"I don't even know what I think, I don't even know how any of that interspecies stuff works." He admitted. "Wouldn't we need to go to a lab and get a gene mix or something? Otherwise our kids might end up being mutant babies."

"Yeah, maybe we'll stick with adoption. I heard gene mixes are expensive too."

Nick chuckled, now realizing what he and Judy were talking about. "I love it when you plan our future." He said with big puppy dog eyes. "Its adorable."

"Well, maybe everyone at the office is right. Maybe it's only a matter of time."Judy murmured as she reached across the table and took Nick's paws. "Maybe I see a future for us."

Nick held her paws tighter and looked up at her. "I do see a future for us."

Hope you liked this final installment. Credit to thephantombeyond on tumblr for letting me use his characters Alex and Geno.


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